Kidnappers, human traffickers and sex offenders are a nuisance in the society. In an ongoing effort to cleanse the society, US Marshals started "Operation Not Forgotten" as a part of rescuing missing children. US Marshals have rescued 39 children as a part of two-week operation in August sweeping the areas of Atlanta and Macon, Georgia.
The rescue op was a joint task between the U.S. Marshals Service Missing Child Unit, the agency's Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and Georgia state and local agencies. The operation led to rescue of 26 children, the safe location of 13 children and nabbed nine criminals associated with the crime.
The investigators have cleared 26 arrest warrants and filed additional charges for alleged crimes related to sex trafficking, parental kidnapping, registered sex offender violations, drugs and weapons possession, and custodial interference, US Marshals said in a press statement.
"The U.S. Marshals Service is fully committed to assisting federal, state, and local agencies with locating and recovering endangered missing children, in addition to their primary fugitive apprehension mission. The message to missing children and their families is that we will never stop looking for you," Director of the Marshals Service Donald Washington, said in a statement.
The state of rescued children
The children who were rescued were considered to be "some of the most at-risk and challenging recovery cases in the area, based on indications of high-risk factors such as victimization of child sex trafficking, child exploitation, sexual abuse, physical abuse and medical or mental health conditions,"
Of the rescued children, a 3-year-old was brought home safe. Also, many kids were missing for several weeks and one child was missing for two years.
"When we track down fugitives, it's a good feeling to know that we're putting the bad guy behind bars. But that sense of accomplishment is nothing compared to finding a missing child. It's hard to put into words what we feel when we rescue a missing child, but I can tell you that this operation has impacted every single one of us out here. We are working to protect them and get them the help they need," Darby Kirby, Chief of the Missing Child Unit, said.
